II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4044 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the consideration 

of the human rights records of recipients of support of special operations 

to combat terrorism, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2024 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the 

consideration of the human rights records of recipients 

of support of special operations to combat terrorism, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Upholding Human 

5 Rights Abroad Act’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4044 IS

1 SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS OF 

2 RECIPIENTS OF SUPPORT OF SPECIAL OPER3 ATIONS FOR IRREGULAR WARFARE. 

4 Section 127d of title 10, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end 

7 of the following new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(F) The processes through which the Sec9 retary shall, in consultation with the Secretary 

10 of State, ensure that prior to a decision to pro11 vide support to individual members or units of 

12 foreign forces, irregular forces, or groups in a 

13 foreign country full consideration is given to 

14 any credible information available to the De15 partment of State relating to gross violations of 

16 human rights by such individuals or units.’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (g)(2)— 

18 (A) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

19 subparagraph (G); and 

20 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (E) 

21 the following new subparagraph (F): 

22 ‘‘(F) A description of the human rights 

23 record of the recipient, including for purposes 

24 of section 362 of this title, and any relevant at25 tempts by such recipient to remedy such 

26 record.’’; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4044 IS

1 (3) in subsection (i)(3), by adding at the end 

2 the following new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(I) An assessment of how support pro4 vided under this section advances United States 

5 national security priorities and aligns with 

6 other United States Government interests in 

7 countries in which activities under the authority 

8 in this section are ongoing.’’; 

9 (4) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub10 section (l); and 

11 (5) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol12 lowing new subsection (k): 

13 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graphs (2) and (3), no funds may be used to provide 

16 support to any individual member or unit of a for17 eign force, irregular force, or group in a foreign 

18 country if the Secretary of Defense has credible in19 formation that such individual or unit has com20 mitted a gross violation of human rights. 

21 ‘‘(2) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of 

22 Defense, after consultation with the Secretary of 

23 State, may waive the prohibition under paragraph 

24 (1) if the Secretary determines that the waiver is re25 quired by extraordinary circumstances. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4044 IS

1 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition under para2 graph (1) shall not apply with respect to individual 

3 members or units of such foreign forces, irregular 

4 forces, or groups if the Secretary of Defense, after 

5 consultation with the Secretary of State, determines 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(A) the government of such country has 

8 taken all necessary corrective steps; or 

9 ‘‘(B) the support is necessary to assist in 

10 disaster relief operations or other humanitarian 

11 or national security emergencies.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS RECORDS OF 

13 RECIPIENTS OF SUPPORT OF SPECIAL OPER14 ATIONS TO COMBAT TERRORISM. 

15 Section 127e of title 10, United States Code, is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end 

18 of the following new subparagraph— 

19 ‘‘(D) The processes through which the Sec20 retary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

21 State, shall ensure that, prior to a decision to 

22 provide any support to foreign forces, irregular 

23 forces, groups, or individuals, full consideration 

24 is given to any credible information available to 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4044 IS

1 the Department of State relating to violations 

2 of human rights by such entities.’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (d)(2)— 

4 (A) in subparagraph (H), by inserting ‘‘, 

5 including the promotion of good governance and 

6 rule of law and the protection of civilians and 

7 human rights’’ before the period at the end; 

8 (B) in subparagraph (I)— 

9 (i) by striking the period at the end 

10 and inserting ‘‘or violations of the laws of 

11 armed conflict, including the Geneva Con12 ventions of 1949, including—’’; and 

13 (ii) by adding at the end the following 

14 new clauses: 

15 ‘‘(i) vetting units receiving such sup16 port for violations of human rights; 

17 ‘‘(ii) providing human rights training 

18 to units receiving such support; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) providing for the investigation of 

20 allegations of gross violations of human 

21 rights and termination of such support in 

22 cases of credible information of such viola23 tions.’’; and 

24 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

25 subparagraph: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4044 IS

1 ‘‘(J) A description of the human rights 

2 record of the recipient, including for purposes 

3 of section 362 of this title, and any relevant at4 tempts by such recipient to remedy such 

5 record.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (i)(3), by adding at the end 

7 the following new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(I) An assessment of how support pro9 vided under this section advances United States 

10 national security priorities and aligns with 

11 other United States Government efforts to ad12 dress underlying risk factors of terrorism and 

13 violent extremism, including repression, human 

14 rights abuses, and corruption.’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub16 sections: 

17 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.—(1) Except 

18 as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), no funds may be 

19 used to provide support to any individual member or unit 

20 of a foreign force, irregular force, or group in a foreign 

21 country if the Secretary of Defense has credible informa22 tion that such individual or unit has committed a gross 

23 violation of human rights. 

24 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense, after consultation 

25 with the Secretary of State, may waive the prohibition 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4044 IS

1 under paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that the 

2 waiver is required by extraordinary circumstances. 

3 ‘‘(3) The prohibition under paragraph (1) shall not 

4 apply with respect to the foreign forces, irregular forces, 

5 groups, or individuals of a country if the Secretary of De6 fense determines that— 

7 ‘‘(A) the government of such country has taken 

8 all necessary corrective steps; or 

9 ‘‘(B) the support is necessary to assist in dis10 aster relief operations or other humanitarian or na11 tional security emergencies. 

12 ‘‘(k) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

13 be construed to constitute a specific statutory authoriza14 tion for any of the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) The conduct of a covert action, as such 

16 term is defined in section 503(e) of the National Se17 curity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3093(e)). 

18 ‘‘(2) The introduction of United States armed 

19 forces, within the meaning of section 5(b) of the 

20 War Powers Resolution, into hostilities or into situa21 tions wherein hostilities are clearly indicated by the 

22 circumstances. 

23 ‘‘(3) The provision of support to regular forces, 

24 irregular forces, groups, or individuals for the con25 duct of operations that United States Special OperVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Apr 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4044.IS S4044

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 4044 IS

1 ations Forces are not otherwise legally authorized to 

2 conduct themselves. 

3 ‘‘(4) The conduct or support of activities, di4 rectly or indirectly, that are inconsistent with the 

5 laws of armed conflict.’’. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS